Brassiere Cup Underwire And Manufacturing Method Therefor

ABSTRACT

A brassiere cup underwire and method of manufacturing the underwire and cup therewith. The underwire comprises a plastic strip capable of providing desired “firmness” or “hardness” along its length and thereby providing desired degrees of support therealong. The plastic strip comprises at least one layer of polymer and at least one layer of a second material, wherein the at least one layer of polymer and the at least one layer of the second material are in the form of sandwich. 
     Preferably, the plastic strip comprises at least two layers of polymer and at least one layer of the second material, with an adhesive applied therebetween to secure the layers to one another.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 USC 119 of HK Short Term Patent Application No.s HK11105043.3 and HK11105044.2, both filed May 23, 2011, entitled “Brassiere Cup Underwire” and “Method of Forming a Brassiere Cup”, respectively. For at least US purposes, the entire disclosure of these prior patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to brassieres. The invention more particularly, although not exclusively, relates to a brassiere having a specially formed underwire and/or other support features, and a method of manufacturing a cup for such a brassiere using the specially formed underwire.

Known brassieres have a stiff metallic underwire sewn into the bottom of each cup. Such underwires may provide an adequate level of support but are uncomfortable, unsightly and can protrude from the brassiere after a time of use. Such metallic underwires are also of constant cross-section and stiffness throughout their length and therefore do not provide a desired level of variable support throughout their length.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantages and/or more generally to provide an improved brassiere and brassiere cup underwire and/or other support feature, and method of manufacture therefore.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

There is disclosed herein a brassiere cup underwire comprising a plastics strip. Such underwire is capable of providing desired “firmness” or “hardness” along its length and thereby providing desired degrees of support therealong.

Preferably, the plastic strip comprises at least one layer of polymer.

The plastic strip may further comprise at least one layer of a second material, wherein the at least one layer of polymer and the at least one layer of the second material are in the form of sandwich.

Preferably, the plastic strip comprises at least two layers of said polymer and the at least one layer of the second material is formed sandwiched between said at least two layers of said polymer.

Preferably, the second material is selected from a group of polymer, fabric and foam.

It is preferred that the plastic strip has a constant number of layers of the polymer and second material, so as to have a uniform crosswise dimension along its length.

Alternatively, the plastic strip may have a variable number of layers of at least one of the polymer and second material along its length, so as to have a varied crosswise dimension along its length.

Preferably, the dimension graduates from a minimum at one end of the underwire to a maximum at the other end of the underwire.

Preferably, the polymer is ethylene vinyl acetate.

Preferably, the polymer is resin.

Preferably, the plastic strip is formed by layers of polymer and second material (adhered to each other in the form of a sandwich.

Preferably, the underwire is initially formed by cutting a desired shape from the plastic strip.

There is further disclosed herein a brassiere cup having the above-disclosed underwire located in an edge region thereof.

Preferably, the underwire is located between layers of material from which the cup is formed, and even furthermore, the underwire is molded in place with formation of the cup.

There is further disclosed herein a brassiere having a pair of the above-disclosed brassiere cups.

Furthermore, there is disclosed herein a method of manufacturing a brassiere part with a plastic strip support feature, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing at least one layer of a polymer;

(b) providing at least one layer of a second material on top of the layer of polymer;

(c) applying an adhesive at the interface between the at least one layer of polymer and the at least one layer of the second material, for causing said layers to adhere to each other and form a layered plastic strip.

(d) cutting the plastic strip support feature from the layered plastic strip, where the size and shape of the plastic strip support feature corresponds to a desired size and shape for the plastic strip support feature of the brassiere part;

(e) providing a mold for forming the brassiere part with a trough;

(f) laying down in the mold a brassiere part material from which the brassiere part is to be formed, such that some of the brassiere part material extends into the trough;

(g) positioning the plastic strip support feature upon the brassiere part material that extends into the trough; and

(h) applying heat to the mold sufficient to soften the layer of polymer so that it consolidates into a desired shape as defined by the shape of the trough.

Preferably, the second material may be selected from a group of foam, fabric and polymer;

Preferably, the brassiere part is a cup and the plastic strip support feature is an underwire, wherein the plastics material consolidates in the trough to form the underwire of variable or uniform width and/or depth from one end of the underwire to the other.

Optionally, the methods disclosed above may further comprise providing additional layers of polymer as well as additional layers of second material sandwiched therebetween.

Even furthermore, further layers of material from which the brassiere cup is to be formed can be laid down so as to cover the plastic material in the trough before the step of applying heat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred forms of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective illustration of a brassiere;

FIG. 2 is a schematic elevation of a underwire;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional end elevation of a thick end portion of the underwire of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional end elevation of a thin end portion of the underwire of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional elevation of a prior art underwire;

FIG. 6 is a schematic elevation of the prior art underwire of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional elevation of the underwire of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a schematic elevation of the underwire of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9A is a cross-sectional view of the non-uniform material of which a plastic strip is made in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view of the uniform material of which a plastic strip is made in accordance with another embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective illustration of a mold used to form a brassiere cup with an underwire of variable depth along its length; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective illustration of a mold used to form a brassiere cup with an underwire of variable width along its length.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings there is depicted schematically a brassiere 10 having a pair of breast cups, a pair of shoulder straps, a front band, a pair of underwires 11, and a back strap which is an extension of the front band. The back strap is connected by hook and loop fasteners 40. The brassiere also includes a pair of uplifting panels 14 and a reinforced central sternum area 17 between the cups.

An underwire 11 is shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. Underwire 11 comprises a plastic strip. The plastic strip has at least one layer of polymer either alone or together with at least one layer of foam and/or fabric. Use of foam or fabric is a matter of choice subject to application. Optionally, the plastic strip may vary in thickness from a maximum as shown at A at one end of the underwire to a minimum as shown at B at the other end of the underwire. As noted above, alternatively, the underwire can be of variable width along its length.

In this embodiment, the at least one layer of polymer 12 is placed between layers of foam 14 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

The variation of the thickness (or width) of the underwire is a matter of choice subject to the support desired. In this illustration, the thickness of the underwire varies gradually between A and B. The underwire 11 is surrounded by foam 13 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The foam 13 and underwire 11 are typically molded into the bottom edge region of the brassiere cup during the manufacturing process. As an alternative, the underwire 11 could be positioned and held in place with respect to the brassiere cup for subsequent lamination of the underwires 11 into the brassiere cup itself.

One end of the underwire 11 (typically the end closest to the wearer's shoulder) is the thickest, whereas the other end of the underwire 11 (typically the end nearest the wearer's sternum) is the thinnest. This provides a gradual reduction in stiffness of the underwire 11 along its length. In order to finely tune the degree of support and comfort along the length of the underwire 11, differing materials and material thicknesses may be adopted. Indeed different configurations might be required for different cup sizes to suit the anatomy of different women.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are included for comparison and show a typical prior art underwire structure. In the prior art, the underwire includes a central metallic wire 11B surrounded by a metallic wire loop 11A. These two parts are encased in foam 13. Although the foam 13 provides some degree of protection from the hard metallic core, the stiffness of the wire results in discomfort.

FIGS. 7 and 8 on the other hand show an underwire 11 made in accordance with the present invention and in which the underwire 11 is also surrounded by foam 13. As shown in FIG. 8, the thickness or depth of the underwire 11 diminishes gradually from one end to the other. In this case the dimension A is greater than B.

FIG. 7 shows underwire 11 having a plastic strip which has a layer of polymer 12 between layers of foam 14 and varies in thickness from a maximum as shown at A at one end of the underwire 11 to a minimum as shown at B at the other end of the underwire 11.

The underwire 11 is typically formed in and located at a transition position between the cup and the front band of the brassiere. The underwire 11 would be orientated with its flatter side facing the body of the wearer so that the convex side of the underwire 11 faces outwardly away from the body. The brassiere cup might be formed as a lamination of foam plastics material between layers of which the underwire 11 is located.

In another embodiment, underwire 11 may be of constant uniform thickness throughout its length. The thickness of the underwire depends on the number of layers of polymer and the number of layers of foam and/or fabric used.

FIG. 9A shows a plastic material 20, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, from which the underwire 11 can be cut-out or otherwise manufactured from. Plastic material 20 is made so as to comprise one or more layers of polymer 12 and one or more layers of a second material 14 positioned in the form of sandwich with polymer 12. The number of layers of polymer 12 and the number of layers of the second material 14 may vary along the length of the plastic material 20, depending on the final shape and thickness of the desired underwire 11. In a manner similar to what was described in the prior embodiments, the thickness (and/or width) of polymer 12 and the second material 14 may also vary. The embodiment of FIG. 9A shows one end of the material 20 is thicker than the other end by having an additional layer of polymer 12 and second material 14. An underwire 11 of a desired shape and thickness may then be cut from the material 20 shown. It is noted that the desired shape cut from material 20 may correspond differently to the final/desired size and shape for the underwire, since its final shape may change somewhat during the molding process of the underwire with the rest of the brassiere cup, which molding process is described in conjunction with FIG. 10 and FIG. 11.

FIG. 9B shows a plastic material 20 of which the underwire 11 of the present invention is made in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, material 20 also comprises layers of polymer 12 and layers of a second material 14 in the form of sandwich. However, unlike those shown in FIG. 9A, the number of layers of polymer 12 and the number of layers of the second material 14 shown in FIG. 9B are constant along the length of the plastic material 20, resulting in a uniform thickness of the plastic material 20. An underwire 11 of a desired shape and thickness may then be cut from the material shown.

Optional, an adhesive can be used at the interface between each layer of polymer and the at least one layer of the second material, for causing said layers to adhere to each other so they maintain their relative position during further processing.

Optionally, the plastic strip may comprise one or more layer of polymer 12 only, without layers of the second material 14. Second material 14 may be selected from the group of polymer, fabric and foam.

It is indeed a matter of choice to have the plastic material having either only layer(s) of polymer or combination of layer(s) of polymer together with layer(s) of fabric and/or foam, subject to the amount of support desired.

FIG. 10 shows a mold 15 in which a brassiere cup and underwire 11 are molded. The mold comprises a trough 16 defining the overall shape of the underwire 11. The trough 16 is deep at A and shallow at B. The desired layers of fabric and/or foam material are set down upon the mold 15 and extend into the trough. Plastics strip of desired shape and thickness made of the plastic material 20 of FIG. 9A or FIG. 9B is then placed over the fabric and/or foam material which extends into the trough 16. The deep end of the trough 16 accepts more plastic material 20 than the shallow end. Either during or after the molding process in which other layers of foam and/or fabric material are pressed against the plastics material 20 to encase it, heat sufficient to melt/soften the plastics material 20 and pressure is applied so that the plastic material 20 melts into a continuous strip of variable depth along its length and forms a whole piece of material together with the fabric and/or foam material.

FIG. 11 shows a different mold 15 in which a brassiere cup and underwire are molded. The mold comprises a trough 16 defining the overall shape of the underwire 11. The trough 16 of uniform depth is wide at A and narrow at B. The desired layers of fabric and/or foam material are set down upon the mold 15 and extend into the trough. Plastic strip of desired shape made of the plastics material 20 of FIG. 9A or FIG. 9B is then placed over the fabric and/or foam material which extends into the trough 16. The wide end of the trough 16 accepts more plastic material 20 than the narrow end. Either during or after the molding process in which other layers of foam and/or fabric material are pressed against the plastics material 20 to encase it, heat sufficient to melt/soften the plastics material 20 and pressure are applied so that the plastic material 20 melts into a continuous strip of variable depth along its length and may form a whole piece of material together with the fabric and/or foam material.

Features 40, 14 and 17 shown in FIG. 1 are examples of other parts of a brassiere that can comprise reinforcing and support panels formed by practically the same method as described for manufacturing the underwire. These are areas of the brassiere that would typically require extra strength and provide additional support. For example, it might be desirable to incorporate a reinforcing pad behind typical hook and loop fasteners 40. This would enable the user to more positively secure the hook fasteners to the loop fasteners. At the sternum region 17 between the brassiere cups, extra reinforcing might be desired. Furthermore, special uplifting panels 14 could be provided at the outer edge regions of each cup. Each of these features might be provided by a mold having a cavity to receive granular plastics material to be heat-melded in a manner similar to that described. Indeed, the uplifting panels 14 and sternum reinforcing area 17 could be formed integrally with the underwires as extensions thereof.

It should be appreciated that modifications and alterations obvious to those skilled in the art are not to be considered as beyond the scope of the present invention. For example, rather than using continuous fixed length strips of polymer/foam/fabric materials in the method of manufacturing the plastics strip or underwire, continuous variable-length strips of polymer/foam material could be laid one upon another in stepwise manner such that thickness of the material varies along the plastic strip. These layers could then be melded together upon the application of heat and pressure to remove any steps between the layers. Furthermore, different thickness of polymer can be used together or separately to form a plastic strip. Even furthermore, two or more polymer layers can be used to form the plastic strip, where at least two of the polymer layers are comprised of a different polymer, chosen from the group of a resin, a PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) or EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate). Accordingly, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the described embodiments, but that it has the full scope suggested by the above-language, as well as equivalents thereof. 

1. A brassiere cup underwire comprising a plastic strip, the plastic strip including at least one layer of polymer and at least one layer of a second material.
 2. The underwire of claim 1, where the plastic strip comprises at least two layers of said polymer and the at least one layer of the second material is formed sandwiched between said at least two layers of said polymer.
 3. The underwire of claim 1, wherein the second material is selected from a group comprising a polymer, a fabric and a foam.
 4. The underwire of claim 2, wherein the plastic strip has a constant number of layers of said polymer and second material, so as to have a uniform crosswise dimension along its length.
 5. The underwire of claim 2, wherein the plastics strip has a variable number of layers of at least one of said polymer and second material along its length, so as to have a varied crosswise dimension along its length.
 6. The underwire of claim 5, wherein the dimension graduates from a minimum at one end of the plastic strip to a maximum at the other end of the plastic strip.
 7. The underwire of claim 1, where the polymer is selected from the group of an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), a resin, or a poly vinyl chloride (PVC).
 8. The underwire of claim 2, where the polymer is selected from the group of an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), a resin, or a poly vinyl chloride (PVC).
 9. The underwire of claim 3, where the polymer is selected from the group of an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), a resin, or a poly vinyl chloride (PVC).
 10. The underwire of claim 2, where the underwire is formed by cutting a desired shape from the plastic strip.
 11. The underwire of claim 6, where the underwire is formed by cutting a desired shape from the plastic strip.
 12. The underwire of claim 1, where the underwire is formed by molding.
 13. The underwire of claim 1, further including an adhesive material positioned at the interface between each layer of polymer and the at least one layer of the second material, for causing said layers to adhere to each other.
 14. The underwire of claim 2 located in an edge region of a brassiere cup.
 15. The underwire of claim 14 located between layers of material from which the brassiere cup is formed.
 16. A method of manufacturing a brassiere part with a plastic strip support feature, comprising the steps of: (a) providing at least one layer of a polymer; (b) providing at least one layer of a second material on top of the layer of polymer; (c) applying an adhesive at the interface between the at least one layer of polymer and the at least one layer of the second material, for causing said layers to adhere to each other and form a layered plastic strip. (d) cutting the plastic strip support feature from the layered plastic strip, where the size and shape of the plastic strip support feature cut from the layered plastic strip corresponds to a desired size and shape for the plastic strip support feature of the brassiere part after application of heat as noted by Step (h); (e) providing a mold for forming the brassiere part with a trough; (f) laying down in the mold a brassiere part material from which the brassiere part is to be formed, such that some of the brassiere part material extends into the trough; (g) positioning the plastic strip support feature cut from the layered plastic strip upon the brassiere part material that extends into the trough; and (h) applying heat to the mold sufficient to soften the layer of polymer so that it consolidates into a desired shape as defined by the shape of the trough.
 17. The method of claim 16 where step (b) provides the second material from a group comprising a foam, a fabric and a polymer.
 18. The method of claim 16 where the brassiere part is a cup and the plastic strip support feature is an underwire, and where during step (h) the plastics material consolidates in the trough to form the underwire so as to have either a variable or uniform width and/or depth from one end of the underwire to the other.
 19. The method of claim 16, where step (a) provides multiple layers of polymer.
 20. The method of claim 16, where steps (a) and (b) each provide multiple layers of their respective polymer and second material, until a plastic material of desired shape and thickness is complete.
 21. The method of claim 16, where step (f) provides further layers of material for laying down, from which the brassiere cup is to be formed, so as to cover the plastic material in the trough before step (h). 